Do you have employees who drive for work? If so, do you have safety policies and procedures in place that cover driving for work purposes? As an employer, you are responsible for the safety of your employees, whether they drive full time—such a truck driver—or as part of their job—such as a sales person—and whether they drive a company vehicle or their own car.

March 2-6, 2015 is the first annual Road Safety at Work Week which is a week during which B.C. employers are encouraged to take action on workplace road safety.

How Road Safety Affects Your Business
The reason why BC businesses are being encouraged to focus on road safety during this week is because motor-vehicle crashes are the leading cause of traumatic workplace deaths in the province. On average each year, 23 workers are killed and another 1,290 are injured because of work-related motor-vehicle crashes. Each workday, more than 450 workers miss time from work because of a work-related crash.1 Workers hurt in motor vehicle crashes are typically off work almost twice as long as workers injured in other ways.2

So, while you may have a good safety record, the implications of having one of your employees hurt or killed in a motor-vehicle crash could be devastating, not only to the employee and their family, but to your bottom line, employee morale, and your company’s brand and reputation. It is not only your legal responsibility, it is in your best interests to take action to better protect your employees when they are behind the wheel for work.

Go Phone-Free: Other Tips for the Road
The first step is to identify the most common driving hazards your employees face and adopt practices that remove or reduce the risk of crashes. Using a phone while driving is a hazard that significantly increases the risk of a crash. Although the law permits hands-free devices, hands-free does not mean distraction-free. Hands-free devices are no safer than hand-held devices.

To improve your road safety program, create and implement a phone-free policy for your employees who drive. Also, make a pledge to drive phone free and get your employees to do so too.

Other simple road safety improvements you can do include:

Check your employees’ drivers’ licenses and abstracts every year not just at the time of hire. This may help you identify which employees need driving refreshers and which don’t;

If your employees drive their own vehicles for work, check annually that their vehicles are insured for work-related driving, and that they are well maintained. While many employers may see this as an employee’s responsibility, it is your responsibility if they are driving for you; and

Incorporate vehicle inspections and maintenance standards for all vehicles your employees drive, and make sure they follow them.

For more information about how to better protect your employees when they are on the road, visit Road Safety at Work which offers free tools and resources, as well as free workshops and one-on-one consulting services, to businesses in BC.

1 WorkSafeBC, BIA Datamart and ODF Snapshot, 2009 to 2013, June 2014
2 WorkSafeBC reports that in 2013, the average cost and days of work lost for each motor-vehicle related claim were $49,250 and 100 days respectively, significantly higher than the provincial average of $19,500 and 58 days for all WorkSafeBC time-loss claims. WorkSafeBC, BIA Datamart and ODF Snapshot, 2009 to 2013, June 2014.

While some companies may view corporate social responsibility as a way to manage their reputation and please stockholders, forward-thinking organizations have always known that “doing good” creates more than just good karma.

In fact, by developing effective giving programs that make a real difference in the community, businesses can build a positive corporate culture that supports talent recruitment and retention – two absolute musts in today’s competitive business landscape.

According to a handful of recent studies, exercising social responsibility can also help future-proof your business. The 2014 Deloitte Millennial Survey, for example, emphasizes how Millennials (individuals born between 1981 and 1997) are eager to work for organizations that foster innovative thinking and make positive contributions to society. This is clearly a generation that prioritizes corporate social responsibility, and for 78 per cent of respondents to the 2013 Cone Communications Social Impact Study, it influences where they want to work.

Considering that according to the same 2014 Deloitte Millennial Survey, Millennials are already emerging as business leaders and will comprise 75 per cent of the global workforce by 2025, it’s vital that companies engage employees by developing charitable initiatives that make a real, lasting impact in the community.

At American Express, two of the programs we’re most proud of are Serve2Gether and Give2Gether. With the latter, we simply ask our employees to make a pledge to support the non-profit organization or organizations of their choosing, and then we match that contribution dollar for dollar. With 69 per cent of our employees donating to Give2Gether in 2014 (a spike of 18 per cent over the previous year), we were able to raise more than $370,000 for our 21 national community partners.

While this approach is successful, it’s important for organizations to go beyond simply collecting donations and develop initiatives where employees can see the positive change they’re making in peoples’ lives. For instance, with Serve2Gether, more than 3,000 Amex employees logged 5,700+ hours at over 160 different volunteer programs in the past year alone. This included helping Habitat for Humanity build walls for 33 Toronto homes, assembling 1,500 craft and bike safety kits for the Toronto Children’s Breakfast Club and SickKids, and gathering more than 700 articles of warm clothing and business attire for local charities.

In addition to the positive impact these acts of kindness made in the community, it should probably come as no surprise they also made our employees feel great about themselves, their jobs and their workplace. It’s an essential human truth that we as people are always seeking a purpose in life, and therefore, it goes without saying that if a company can help employees find that purpose, then it will have a much more satisfied workforce on its hands.

In a social media age where news travels fast, you can also bet Canadians have been taking notice of these charitable initiatives, leading to more applications and more talent coming through our doors. As the lifeblood of any organization, this influx of talent represents our future leaders and decision-makers.

So, it’s simple really. No matter what the size of your company, it’s important for HR professionals to work with senior leaders to develop and implement new charitable programs. Simply by encouraging and empowering employees to make a difference, you not only help the lives of others, you help yourself, creating a positive corporate culture that sets your organization up for sustained success.

Naomi Titleman is vice president, human resources at American Express Canada. Appointed to the position in May of 2014, Naomi is responsible for all human resource initiatives for the Canadian business which in total employs approximately 2,000 individuals.

Like many sectors, the field of higher education is changing. A number of economic, demographic and technological forces are affecting both the demand for post-secondary education (PSE) and the means by which it can be supplied, as documented in a recent report from the Boston Consulting Group:

There is an increased focus, by students as well as government policy-makers, on the economic returns from PSE, including traditional university undergraduate degrees.

The private sector is playing a greater role in providing and financing education and training.

As an industry, post-secondary education is “going global.”

Technological innovations that enable new delivery models and learning platforms are being adopted in some parts of the education system.

Many PSE institutions are grappling with revenue challenges as provincial (and most U.S. state) governments struggle with fiscal pressures and student enrolment numbers dwindle in some jurisdictions.

Steady Growth of Knowledge Economy
Underlying all of these shifts is a broader macro-level trend: steady growth in the demand for well-educated workers to propel and sustain the knowledge-based economy. Human resources managers are aware of this trend, and employers across the economy are contributing to it by requiring that prospective hires in most occupational categories—including front-line customer service jobs—possess educational qualifications beyond a high school diploma.

Advances in communications technology are opening up new and less costly ways to supply learning and foster interaction between students and instructors—as well as among learners themselves. The rich and continuously expanding array of information and research resources accessible through the internet has revolutionized many aspects of knowledge development and dissemination.

As digital resources continue to expand, 20th century models of information-gathering and transmission may wither. More students today are getting degrees and diplomas on-line, bypassing institutions in their own communities. The introduction of “massive open on-line courses” (MOOCs) could disrupt the economics of existing university education and teaching models. All of these developments pose risks to PSE institutions, but they also create opportunities to use digital and other communications technologies to widen the reach of education, improve content, and increase efficiency—reaching more students at a lower unit (per-student) cost.

Demographics Impact PSE Futures
Population aging is also influencing the post-secondary education marketplace. In some parts of Canada, both the 15 to 24 and 18 to 29 age groups will be declining over the next two decades. These are the age cohorts from which PSE institutions historically have drawn almost all of their students.

Increasingly, the workforce will be made up of older and more experienced individuals, many of whom will require (or have an interest in obtaining) further education and training as part of their career development or to re-tool for new occupations. In this environment, PSE institutions will need to tailor more of their programming and delivery mechanisms to meet the needs of the adult workforce.

Globalization Impacts Education
Another trend affecting the PSE sector is globalization. Across the world, universities and colleges are stepping up efforts to recruit international students and establish partnerships with foreign institutions focused on instructional programming as well as research. Many Canadian universities have become active globally, often resulting in significant economic benefits.

Close to 100,000 foreign students are now studying at Canadian universities and colleges in any given year. Because they pay higher “market-based” tuition fees, international students represent an attractive revenue stream for PSE institutions. Indeed, a number of provinces, including B.C., have targeted international education as a growth industry.

Further Funding Sources Required
Finally, the system for financing post-secondary education in Canada (and the U.S.) is under strain. In the 1970s and 1980s, governments covered 80-85 per cent of the costs incurred by universities, colleges and technical institutes.

Today, the figure is below two-thirds, and it is likely to decline further, as the provinces wrestle with ballooning health care costs that already absorb half of all provincial government revenues. This is forcing PSE students to pay more, and pressuring institutions to pursue other funding sources and become more responsive to the needs of learners and employers.

Bottom Line?
While the university and college system is undergoing far-reaching changes and there are questions about the sustainability of traditional ways of doing business, one should not lose sight of the benefits of a post-secondary education. As shown in a new report from B.C.’s research universities, young adults holding undergraduate degrees continue to enjoy higher incomes and rates of employment than their counterparts lacking such qualifications.

American studies also indicate that, despite steeply rising education-related costs, acquiring bachelor degrees and other college credentials still makes overall economic sense for most young adults. All of the evidence suggests that HR managers will continue to seek candidates with various kinds of PSE qualifications to fill a large and steadily growing majority of available job openings in the coming decades.

Jock Finlayson is the executive vice-president of the Business Council of BC.

In their 17th Annual Global CEO Survey, PriceWaterhouse Coopers interviewed 1,344 CEOs in 68 countries during the fall of 2013. Sixty-three per cent of the CEOs interviewed said that “availability of skills was a serious concern”; cast in a slightly different light, an overwhelming 93 per cent recognized a need to change their organization’s talent strategy.

Looking ahead at transformational trends over the next five years, agility and adaptability were called upon most often. Interestingly and related, most of the CEOs surveyed admitted them were not using their HR professionals to their full potential.

As per the PriceWaterhouse Coopers survey: “The scale of the changes is massive, and organizations must adapt at every level. Their thinking, their strategy and their mindset around long-standing assumptions and processes (especially when it comes to talent management) must change”.

Top Five Goals for HR
Similarly, according to the 2014 report by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services entitled “The Age of Modern HR”, the top five goals for HR management in 2014 were:

Talent Acquisition

Employee engagement

Talent retention

Goal alignment

Training

Both the non-HR executives and HR executives surveyed agreed that HR management practices need to be improved. The question most asked—How?

Neuroscience can provide a key assist to help HR move forward into the elevated, strategic role it must take on to meet and drive business demands. As since its inception, that role revolves around talent—attracting, developing, and retaining the right people in the right roles. Only now, the stakes are higher and results anticipated.

Executive HR is Key
In an optimal environment, the HR function is part of the executive team, working together to strategically assess and develop talent and development goals that will support the economic success and growth of the organization.

Unfortunately, for many organizations this is not yet a reality. Further disruption of how HR has historically been perceived is required to access HR’s potential as a business driver, and long overdue for many businesses.

A Science of Mind to Assist
HR knows its business, and increasingly the nature of the business it functions within. In order to further realize the desired business results though, greater numbers are exploring the research now emerging through neuroscience.

Wikipedia offers the most succinct definition of neuroscience—“the scientific study of the nervous system.” In the context of the workplace, those are the people themselves. What impacts them, impacts the business is the most direct correlation to be made, but far from the only one.

Neuroscience (Already) at Work
Some of the areas where neuroscience is already making an impact include the following:

Understanding threat/reward reactions in our brain, and the impact those reactions have on our levels of employee engagement and empowerment;

Attention deficiency syndrome, and how mindfulness can not only help us work better, but faster;
Understanding that multitasking is not a positive, but a serious negative, and actually works against memory, focus, creativity and innovation, critical elements of an organization’s success;

Looking at behaviour within teams, our desire to conform and the impact social pain can have upon individuals; and

Re-imagining work, and specifically how we collaborate, motivate and empower our employees to be more productive, more innovative….and happier.

A Whole New Look at Talent (and HR)
The future is not just knocking on the door; it’s in the room. The perfect wave has been waving for a while.

CEOs and other senior leaders need to look to HR—who have been dealing with human behaviour for decades—for help in talent. In turn, HR professionals, need to refresh, expand and possibly relearn their toolkit.

Moreover, it is both imperative and urgent that senior leadership work together to mesh talent, total rewards, performance measurements and learning and development in full regard of the whole person—who is also their employee.

Neuroscience Nothing New: Applications Are
Much of the neuroscience coming into popular consciousness is not new. Many of us are aware of what is needed for employees to be engaged, how to motivate teams or what we need to do to develop our workforce. What is different is how we can use neuroscience to better apply that knowledge.

Here are four areas of neuroscience’s application in the workplace:

Performance: Managers need to be trained on “brain-friendly” feedback so that people don’t shut down during the conversation. Studies show that in order to receive feedback in a way that motivates and does not discourage, people need to feel safe, supported and respected. Most current performance reviews do not offer that kind of environment; approximately 10 per cent of US firms have now stopped using numerical ratings in performance, largely based on the evidence provided by neuroscience.

Productivity: Studies have shown that if people in repetitive roles (like assembly lines) actually know that the product they work on has a positive impact on someone else, productivity can actually triple.

Learning: As most are aware, the knowledge retention of your typical workshop sits at a roughly 10 per cent. Bringing ‘brain-friendly’ learning techniques into an organization raises both this figure, as well as retention.

Team behaviour: Did you know that the physical and social pain centres of our brain sit right next to each other? Managers need to be trained on “brain-friendly” feedback so that people don’t shut down during the conversation. Conversely, while memories of physical pain fade with time, social pain (rejection, bullying, etc.) can be relived repeatedly and become serious obstacles to learning and even impact IQ.

Empowering Positive Change
That change is a constant force in our lives is popularly embraced. However, what many still do not realize, or refuse to accept, is that on an individual level, we can actually change our own neural pathways to modify behaviours and make ourselves more effective. That alone is an exciting and empowering piece of science and opens up huge possibilities around potential and development.

To close with another interesting finding from the Global CEO Survey, only 34 per cent of CEOs feel that HR was prepared to capitalize on transformative global trends. What better way to get prepared than to really understand what is going on in everyone’s heads?

Recipient of the 2014 ICF Prism Award for excellence in organizational coaching, Jennifer Gervès-Keen is focused on offering exceptional learning & development experiences within organizations. Drawing on years of training and coaching, mostly in the area of leadership, Jennifer is now using new research from the field of neuroscience to create innovative effective learning and coaching programs.

What is Incivility?Workplace incivility is discourteous, rude behaviour with a complete disregard for the feelings of others and can be disguised as dismissive, passive-aggressive behaviour.

Moreover, there is a distinction between bullying and workplace incivility. Bullying involves incidents or patterns used to intimidate, offend or degrade and assert power. In contrast, because of its ambiguity, incivility occurs through office gossip, exclusion of colleague(s) and the forming of office cliques—all of which can harm a colleague’s status, reputation and confidence in their ability to perform and function within the workplace.

Recognizing IncivilityIncivility at work goes unreported because employees tend to suffer in silence, making it difficult for employers to recognize it as a systemic issue within the organization.

As employees, we spend a significant number of hours each week, and perhaps many years working with the same colleagues; unfortunately, the adverse impact of incivility on emotional well-being and organizational productivity can be subsumed by ‘group think’ as a result. Comments along the lines of “We’re like family” or “You need to develop thicker skin to work here” provide little support.

Incivility should never be dismissed as part of team dynamics or the normal work experience as these are prime reasons why incivility grows within organizations. In order for a psychological safe and healthy work environments to thrive employers need to be cognizant of how the intentional act of incivility creates an inferior work environment for employees.

Incivility at WorkIncivility can be subtle and covert in nature, ranging from spitefully withholding vital information a colleague needs to perform their job to excluding and ostracizing a colleague during work lunches and breaks. Prevalent examples of incivility are:

bad mouthing of colleagues through gossip;

choosing to ignore and not respond to a colleague’s inquiry when spoken to; and

purposefully asking uncomfortable or inappropriate questions of colleagues in front of others to create intentional discomfort.

Workplace incivility also appears when a manager or supervisor uses their authority to ask a subordinate, who obliges (either out of fear of the reporting hierarchy or because they are willing to participants) to observe, monitor and report back on what their colleagues are doing during work hours. This within any organization should be considered unacceptable behaviour of a manager; it exhibits poor and underdeveloped managerial skills and creates a culture of mistrust between organizational leadership and colleagues.

Detrimental Impact of Workplace IncivilityThe emotional toll of incivility occurs because it affects the emotional well-being of employees creating an uneasy, unfriendly and toxic work environment, leaving employees feeling emotionally drained and unsure where to turn for assistance. For employers, this can lead to lower productivity due to poor team cohesion as employees experience feelings of resentment towards colleagues for fostering low morale, chronic stress both physically and emotionally, and even disdain towards management for failing to intervene and create a safer and more emotionally supportive work environment.

Employees may feel the need to distance themselves from the toxicity of the work environment and the prevalence of absenteeism, presenteeism and turnover can potentially increase.

The psychological strain of workplace incivility can also have an adverse impact on employees personal lives as some may lack the social support at home to handle the associated stress. As a result the emotional strain can lead to long-term affects on their personal well-being. From a variety of perspectives, employers have an obligation to manage workplace incivility; failure to do so can harm an organization from the inside out, from turnover to brand reputation.

How to Build a Civil WorkplacePromotion of a respectful, supportive and inclusive workplace should be a goal for all organizations. This begins with addressing gaps such as organizational policies, codes of conduct and collective agreements that fail to incorporate incivility. The practice of implementing written incivility policies should not only cover behaviours to avoid, but outline proactive corrective measures pertaining to conflict resolution, ongoing education and training. This demonstrates organizational commitment and an assertive stance against workplace incivility while making clear the expectations of acceptable conduct for all employees.

By providing examples of incivility, as well as informing employees where they can turn for assistance and how incivility will be handled, employers can provide greater surety in the workplace.

Another actionable measure against workplace incivility is developing a work culture of compassion, empathy and social support. As a strategy, this requires input and collaboration of employees from all levels of the organization to participate in safe forums to discuss their personal experience(s) of incivility. This will give employees the chance to provide insightful information and recommendations to embed positive change into the organizational fabric.

Moving Towards ChangeIncivility at work goes beyond written policies, it’s the conscience, awareness and understanding of how our words, actions and sometimes inactions impact colleagues emotionally.

As employees, we must take ownership of our work environment, making it supportive, uplifting and overall a psychologically safe place to be. It is the duty of all employees to lead by example and create an organizational atmosphere of respect and kindness towards each other.

Educating employers on the importance of Workplace Health & Wellness initiatives is a passion for Sara-Jane Linton. She actively researches and studies psychosocial issues and its impact to employee health. She has extensive work experience as a human resources professional working for both public and private sectors.

An intervention is an extreme, serious action to improve a critical situation. Reality TV has sensationalized this concept but you may not have considered this same approach as an effective solution in the workplace. Specifically, an intervention may be a useful strategy for “problem leaders.”

Addressing Problematic Leadership
On the surface, problem leaders don’t always appear problematic. In fact, they are often very strong contributors – it is not unusual to hear them referred to as “rainmakers”. However, sometimes the very people who get such great results do so in ways that damage their teams, incurring costs that may take some effort to measure but that are both real and significant.

Of course, these problem leaders are really problem people who have been promoted into leadership positions. They either are unaware of their negative impact on others or they justify it by their results. In a competitive organizational culture, they would have been regularly rewarded for their achievements and promoted because of them. Chances are, they have never been truly confronted about their behaviour.

Because HR is usually the first to hear employee complaints and because they drive the performance review and management process, they are ideally positioned to identify problem people early and lead improvement initiatives to change behaviour before a crisis is reached. Even so, sometimes an intervention is necessary.

The objectives of an intervention are to help the leader become more aware of his/her thinking style, the behaviours it leads to and the impact those behaviours have on the team. Through the intervention process, the leader learns to recognize triggers for ineffective thinking styles, develops better behavioural responses and the ability to stop and replace habitual behaviours with more effective ones.

The Cost of Negative Relations
A recent Gallup poll of more than 1 million employees confirmed the number one reason people quit their jobs is a bad boss. Turnover is expensive—some estimates run as high as 150 per cent of annual salary.

Gallup also reported that poorly managed work groups are on average 50 percent less productive and 44 percent less profitable than well-managed groups. In addition, there are less obvious costs such as increased sick/stress leave and time spent dealing with complaints.

Thinking Styles Impact Behaviour
Leadership effectiveness depends not just on ability to choose appropriate strategies but to execute these in a way that has a positive impact on the bottom line and the team. Two leaders can have the same strategies in mind, but differences in execution (behaviours) can make one leader highly effective and the other a problem. Choice of behaviours is determined by one’s thinking style and the good news is that thinking style can be transformed.

Passive/Defensive Impact: People who over-rely on this style are outwardly focussed; they validate themselves through the approval of others. They are dependant, conventional, avoid conflict and usually do not achieve strong results.

Aggressive/Defensive Impact: Our “problem leaders” usually over-rely on this style. They are outwardly-focussed and they validate themselves by competing with others; they need to see themselves, and be seen by others, as better. They are often perfectionist (“nobody can do it as well as I do”), oppositional and power-seeking. Their leadership is autocratic—“my way or the highway.” The task focus of this style makes these leaders very effective but they have an under-developed people focus.

Constructive Impact: Leaders who rely on this style are inwardly-focussed with a need to measure up to their own goals, rather than compare themselves to others. They are self-actualizing and have a healthy balance of task and people orientation, achieving their results with and through others.

Everyone will use each thinking style to some degree; effective leaders rely primarily on the constructive style. In an intervention, the problem leader’s style is transformed from aggressive to constructive.

When and How to Take Action
As with any issue impacting productivity and engagement, the sooner the problem is addressed, the better. If traditional performance management tactics have failed, the leader sees no reason to change and the effect on the team has reached a crisis, it is time for an intervention.

HR plays a critical role in the initiation, facilitation and evaluation of the process. They will identify the need, source an experienced coach who will work well with the leader, get buy-in from senior leadership to take action, coach the leader’s manager through the difficult initial message, liaise with the coach to track progress and provide ongoing follow-up to ensure that the desired behaviour is sustained.

Every intervention must start with a bomb—a strong, direct message to the leader that this is a career-limiting situation. This message is necessary to motivate the leader to change and it should be delivered by the person to whom this leader reports. While it is important that a strong, forceful message is delivered, it needs to be presented from the position of a sincere desire to help if there is any hope for success. The presenter of the information needs to be assertive yet not diminish the leader.

Once there is agreement from the leader to receive help, the coaching process will begin, helping the leader learn new habits that lead to more effective outcomes.

What is the ROI?
Investing in a neutral, third party who can deliver on all phases of the intervention pays off in improved morale, increased productivity and workforce stability. The desired outcome is a great leader with a happy team—a combination whose potential is massive.

Janet Wright is a certified executive coach and facilitator with with Toombs Inc. in Vancouver, BC.

Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) has been a deliberate area of focus for several competitive companies over the past several years. By now, it has become clear that to fully leverage the value of a diverse and inclusive workforce, D&I must be viewed as an overall business strategy that can lead to improved performance and competitiveness. A diverse workplace can build customer intimacy and credibility through a workforce that reflect the customers it serves, as well as foster creativity and innovation among a high-performing team.

A 2014 article published by Deloitte University Press, states that while nearly one-quarter of executives (23 per cent) believe their companies have done an “excellent” job creating a culture of inclusiveness, and defining what it means (24 per cent), the overwhelming majority rate their effort as “adequate” or “weak.”

These results partially reflect the trend of placing the accountability for diversity on a single department or leader i.e. human resources. Creating a culture of inclusion is something that must be driven from the top management throughout the organization and recognized by all as a workplace goal and expectation.

That said, how can inclusion drive the culture of human resources in a company? By creating an internal infrastructure that supports a diverse and inclusive workplace, HR plays an impactful role in achieving the company’s strategic priorities: attracting top talent, developing innovative solutions, and building customer credibility and loyalty.

Recruitment, performance management, training and development, and compensation and benefits, are some examples of where HR can drive the change.

Recruitment
Once leadership is committed to supporting a diverse workforce, how can HR professionals attract candidates from talent pools that may not have traditionally been targeted?

Re-visit your job postings. Will they attract candidates from diverse populations and are they accessible? A posting that includes a link to a plain text version of the document demonstrates an understanding that candidates who may be visually impaired can better access the posting with screen-reading aides. Are applications solely accepted through online forms, or are there options for candidates who may struggle with this method?

Think about where you’re recruiting. There are hundreds of community agencies across the province that work with job seekers who represent diverse backgrounds and abilities. For example, Open Door Group, a BC-based non-profit organization, matches hundreds of job seekers with disabilities to employers each year. Many of these job-matching services are free of charge for both the employer and the job seeker.

Demonstrate your commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace. If a potential candidate visited your website, who would they see representing the company? Companies that go beyond the standard statement of “We are an equal opportunity employer” by featuring some staff profiles build credibility as a place that appreciates its team.

Onboarding and Staff TrainingRe-think your hiring and onboarding process. Does the process create an environment that would encourage people to come forward with what they need to perform at their best? As part of on-boarding, are new employees introduced to the company’s commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace? For example, providing disability awareness training to all new staff sends a clear message that all customers and employees are valued.

Does your company offer cultural competency training? Cultural competence is a set of attitudes, skills and behaviors that enable organizations and staff to work effectively in cross-cultural situations. A common fear among people is the risk of offending someone who may be different from them. Whether that is appropriate terminology or just a greater understanding of cultural influence, training provides an avenue for staff to ask questions in a comfortable environment. Improving cultural competency promotes inclusive interactions among staff, as well as improved customer service.

Make new employees feel welcomed. Businesses often assign a co-worker to mentor new hires through business practices and procedures. Ideally, this mentor should introduce the new hire to the company culture to help them navigate the day-to-day challenges of the workplace and be a connection between the new hires and current staff.

Performance Management and RecognitionTie it to performance. In a 2013 report titled, “What Gets Measured, Gets Done” published by the Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion, research suggests companies that tie leadership and management accountability to D&I outcomes, make significant strides towards an inclusive culture. A growing trend among employers is to include the promotion of diversity, inclusion, and respect for all as part of each employee’s performance evaluation. Doing so sends a clear message that the company sees diversity as a driver of high-performance.

Find your champions and recognize them. If a staff person goes above and beyond in making people feel included in the workplace, celebrate it. Diversity and inclusion is not about accommodating differences but rather celebrating the positive impact that these differences collective make.

Compensation and BenefitsDo your benefits reflect the needs of a diverse workforce? For example, consider an EFAP provider that offers counselling and supports in a number of languages and includes access to culturally diverse supports such as access to an Elder for Aboriginal employees.

Recognize culturally significant events such as International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Diwali, Gay Pride celebrations, etc.

Consider providing flexible schedules or offering a float day for employees to use at their discretion to observe such events or days

Again, the accountability of establishing a truly diverse and inclusive workplace does not fall on HR or any particular department – it must be driven from the top to become a key pillar of the organizational culture. If a company is able to achieve this, in part through the support of HR’s internal infrastructure and practices, there is no question that the business will reap the benefits of a highly engaged workforce, increased creativity and innovation, and credibility among the diverse customer base it serves.

Are you maximizing creativity and performance? Learn from other employers how they have accelerated performance and results through establishing diverse and inclusive workplaces. On March 9-10, 2015 Open Door Group is hosting the third annual BC Workplace Inclusion conference that will provide an exchange of ideas, innovation, successful practices, information and resources. For more information, or to register, visit www.untappedconference2015.ca.

Alona Puehse is the executive director of corporate development at Open Door Group.

(PeopleTalk Winter 2014)

]]>http://www.hrvoice.org/inclusion-a-driver-of-culture-and-results/feed/0http://www.hrvoice.org/inclusion-a-driver-of-culture-and-results/Jay Sharun, CHRP: 2014 Award of Excellence—Innovationhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hrvoice/~3/dgBhsHil1Vw/
http://www.hrvoice.org/jay-sharun-chrp-2014-award-of-excellence-innovation/#commentsFri, 13 Feb 2015 17:24:36 +0000http://www.hrvoice.org/?p=19216Jay Sharun, CHRP, is a negotiator with Western Industrial Relations, the premier consulting firm for labour relations in Western Canada. Having been in the industry for over 15 years and negotiated more than 400 collective agreements, Sharun was most recently recognized as the recipient of the 2014 HRMA Award of Excellence in Innovation for his work done at BC Tree Fruits.

What attracts you to labour relations?
Looking back on the more than 400 collective agreements I have negotiated, it is a great challenge to match wits with labour negotiators who all seem to possess the patience of a zen master, the resilience of a high stakes poker player, the mind of a chess player, and often the mouth of a truck driver. Stickhandling through issues at the bargaining table and dealing with such folks on a day to day basis is more fun than you could imagine and leaves me with a locker full of great stories.

It also leaves me with priceless gifts from some of the giants in labour relations: the wisdom and laughter of Gerry and Dan Bell, the integrity of David McPhillips, the brilliance of Peter Gall, the larger-than-life spirit of Ralph Elke, and the heart of Anne Kinvig. I continue to follow in their footsteps and hope to pass on their gifts to the next generation of labour relations practitioners.

How has the approach to labour relations changed over time?
You can imagine the difficulty trade unions had in achieving improvements in the late 1800’s in Canada: bitter province and city-wide strikes resulted in many deaths and much of the legislation we have today around workplace safety, human rights, and employment standards did not exist. There was no labour relations code or labour boards and union activity was actually against the law.

Vince Ready put it best when he described early labour relations as a “bare knuckle contest.” Today, collective bargaining is conducted within a robust legal framework and more often than not with the professionalism of any other set of important workplace meetings. Both unions and employers recognize that it is simply bad business, and very costly, to declare war on each other without very good reason.

Can you highlight the innovation and impact of your labour relations solution at BC Tree Fruits?
Last summer, BC Tree Fruits was in the midst of a massive decline due to non-union US competition and the harsh reality that their labour costs were double that of their competitors. They had a poor relationship with their trade union and expected a bitter strike in 12 months, given their previous round of collective bargaining had resulted in many concessions. A war was brewing, but the company required further cost savings to save their industry in the Okanagan.

After much thought, we opened up negotiations one year early; we knew the employees were angry and we decided it would be best to let them vent before any solutions could be found. We took a very honest approach with the employees and told our story with full disclosure. We put ourselves in the shoes of the employees and asked ourselves what kind of a deal we could actually ratify given the almost impossible circumstances. We put aside traditional gamesmanship in bargaining and asked for one scheduling change which would create some work-life benefits but create the necessary cost reductions. It was the ultimate win-win.

In retrospect, our approach seems more common-sense than innovative, but many labour relations practitioners are still stuck in the dark ages; they have trouble marrying labour relations objectives with overall HR objectives to foster high employee engagement. What was destined to be fist-fight at BC Tree Fruits quickly turned into a hand shake.

What piece of advice would you give those struggling with collective bargaining?
Most employers—and unions quite frankly—make the mistake of bringing far too many issues to the bargaining table. You gain credibility in negotiations by being focused and backing up your issues with great evidence. Our one scheduling proposal at BC Tree Fruits was a great example of using this strategy effectively. The vast majority of deals I have negotiated are concluded with 3 days – and it all starts with being focused and prepared.

How do you most directly perceive HR driving business results—or where it could?
Collective bargaining is one of the few areas in the world of HR where it is easy to keep score. In this case, BC Tree Fruits secured a 7 year agreement that is projected to save the organization $10 million in labour costs. In addition, their base wage rates will not increase over the 7 years to ensure competitiveness in the long-term.

Consider the words of a recent CHRP graduate: “Sure, it was hard work and a lot of time away from family and my hobbies. Would I do it again? Definitely.”

Like many new professionals, ‘Susan’ chose to pursue her CHRP as a means to gain more credibility in her profession and open the door to potential promotions and advancement opportunities.

Accreditation Built on Academic Honour
Globally, the recognition of certifications, graduate credentials or other professional designations has been on the rise over the past 30 years. These types of non-government regulated credentials have their origins with the “academic honour societies” that became popular over 200 years ago in the USA, such as the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, the oldest honour society for liberal arts and sciences, that was established in 1776 at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Having spread from the United States north to Canada, as well as to the United Kingdom and Europe, professional designations that are regulated by an independent regulatory boards have almost become a hiring requirement in the areas of banking, insurance, project management, risk management, engineering, law and finance.

With Certification Comes Prestige
The regulation and certification of these professions has brought with it a level of prestige and increased compensation for its practitioners. Inherent in these certifications is the recognition that designation-holders possess a certain level of professional knowledge and skill, are bound by a code of ethics and conduct and are obligated to update their professional knowledge on a regular and ongoing basis.

In the field of human resources, professional designations and certifications are relatively new. The Human Resource Certification Institute in the United States established the Professional in Human Resources (PHR), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and Global Professional in Human Resources (GPHR) designations in 1976.

In Canada, the Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation was established in 1994 and remains the gold-standard in HR certification across Canada. Each of these designations was established as a means to acknowledge an existing body of professional knowledge and establish Human Resources as a recognized profession.

CHRP Evolves to Meet CEO Demand
Today, the role of HR professionals is changing rapidly. A recent study by The Economist revealed that 70 per cent of the CEO’s surveyed wanted their Chief HR Officer to take on an increasingly strategic role and to actively participate at the leadership table.

In response to this changing landscape, the CHRP designation has transformed to reflect the shift in skills required for HR professionals to be effective in their roles. For example, this year, the Canadian Council of Human Resource Associations (CCHRA), the national governing organization, introduced the 2014 Competency Framework.

Updated Competency Framework Addresses HR Futures
The framework provides potential CHRP candidates, employers and the public with a realistic outline of the skills, knowledge and professional conduct they can expect from a CHRP designation holder. Built on the results of an evidence-based process, it outlines 44 professional competencies in nine functional areas of knowledge that CHRP holders must know to earn their certification—this includes new areas such as strategy and financial management. The framework also outlines five enabling competencies and a proficiency level at which each competency needs to be assessed in order to earn the CHRP.

Value of CHRP Pays Forward
For the young professional struggling to establish themselves in a new role at work and make their way in the profession, pursuit of the CHRP can be a daunting task. However, evidence dictates that the hard work translates directly into better financial and professional benefits.

A recent study by PayScale found that 45 per cent of HR generalists with the CHRP designation became HR managers within five years compared to only 21 per cent of HR generalists without the CHRP. At the same time, it was shown that earning the CHRP designation can translate into a pay increase of up to 16 per cent.

Today, as the variety of certifications and designations broadens, quality of the certification can also come into question. For human resource professionals in Canada, the consistency of the designation across the country and its transferability to most provinces is an added value to the designation.

Visit www.chrp.ca to find out more about pursuing the CHRP designation.

(PeopleTalk Winter 2014)

]]>http://www.hrvoice.org/the-origins-of-accreditation-the-impact-of-the-chrp/feed/0http://www.hrvoice.org/the-origins-of-accreditation-the-impact-of-the-chrp/How to Make the Most of Mentoringhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hrvoice/~3/YRlPw62OfFw/
http://www.hrvoice.org/how-to-make-the-most-of-mentoring/#commentsThu, 12 Feb 2015 18:45:15 +0000http://www.hrvoice.org/?p=19163By Shelley Garside, CHRP

In many ways, mentoring serves to better us both as lifelong learners and leaders. It is a marvelous opportunity to share in a learning experience that will help to shape our own and others’ careers moving into the future.

The HRMA Professional Mentoring Program has been matchmaking minds and crafting success stories for more than 10 years to continued demand. The feedback from our participants has been and continues to be overwhelmingly positive for both mentor and protégé alike.

Regardless of which role you seek to fill, or whether you are simply interested in knowing more about professional mentoring, here are some tips for a successful mentoring relationship that participants have shared:

Commitment: Make sure that all parties have the time to commit to the program as a priority and that there is a genuine desire to be part of the program. If either of these elements are missing, the process cannot function.

A Good Match: Ensure that you can work together. Meet with your mentoring partner and have a frank and open dialogue about who you both are, your expectations for the program, and how you like to work—style, meeting frequency, Skype, in-person preferences etc. As a mentor, I tell my protégé that this experience gets to be all about them as it is their learning experience; one summed it up particularly well: “I am driving the bus and you are the GPS.”

Goals and Objectives: Set clear goals and objectives for the time that you expect to be working together. This is an extremely important process to nail down early in the program. It helps to solidify commitment and keep both parties on track.

Track Progress: Are the goals and objectives being met to everyone’s satisfaction? Does anything need to be adjusted or modified? Remember, this is an organic process and must remain open to change.

Check in: Make sure that all parties are satisfied with the working relationship. Listen for clues during your meetings and solicit feedback. Ask your partner if he or she feels that the process is meaningful and helpful to them. Does he or she feel that we are both living up to our expectations? What if anything needs to be modified or addressed? It is important to hold one another accountable.

Keep it interesting: This is where we get to be creative. Some of us love to have homework assignments to address areas in which we are struggling or would like to improve. Exercises can be challenging and fun, detailed and report-driven or experiential in nature. Consider changing how you meet and what you accomplish in a meeting. A “walk-and-talk” meeting during the day can be a refreshing break from the office. A mentoring vision board or creative journal are also both fun and powerful tools.

Celebrate Success: No matter how small or large, everyone benefits from acknowledging a goal achieved and a little victory from time to time.

Evaluate: Toward the end of the mentoring process, set some time aside to learn from the mentoring experience and the relationship between you and your mentoring partner. Be open and frank to allow for optimum learning on both sides. Consider developing a PMP evaluation form for both partners to complete and later share in a meeting.

Most HR professionals enter the field because they really enjoy working with people and want to a make a difference in other people’s lives. The HRMA Professional Mentoring Program touches the very heart of that HR passion.